Ashikabi no Tamashī
by antheunis011
Summary: 1999. A young duo of scientist stumble upon a nearly drowned blonde haired child on the recently risen island in the middle of the Pacific. Tamashī translates to - - Soul, spirit, ghost, anima, being, shadow, apparation


**AN**: The day after posting ch 2, I found it not up to my standards, and it seemed a little too rushed. Also, i feel most comfortable with 10k chapters, so i am combining ch 1,2 and ideas from the 3, whilst making the story a little slower.

**AN2**: English is not my Native Language. Since i don't live in an enviroment where english is spoken much, already being a double-language region, the only real sources for me to speak and read english are games, a few stories, and PSN VoIP. I will be using a simple dictionary to add more lavish stories, along with the Urban Dictionary. _Now my problem is in the fact that i can't find a site that has a simple list of words on english, like a dictionary. It's always a translator programme. Help?_

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**The laws of Anime is a growing list of physical, universal, and natural phenomenon that seem to appear in various forms in all sorts of anime. The original intent was an effort to classify these incidents into a list of "laws" that explained how Anime physics are different from our own (real?) world. It is our hope that you find them useful to studying Anime, or at the very least, worth a good chuckle.**

**#1 - Law of Metaphysical Irregularity- The normal laws of physics do not apply.**

* * *

Iaigiri - Story, events

''Iaigiri'' - Normal Speach

''**Iaigiri**''- Technique, Romaji/Japanese Technique Name

'_Iaigiri_' - Thoughts, Flashback Text

''_Iaigiri_'' - Special Text, Naruto Remembrance

''Iaigiri'' - Technique, English/Viz Media Technique Name

* * *

**Prologue: The blonde kid found on Karakura**

''_Now that I think back to that day, it's hard to believe everything started in such an awkward yet simple situation. Me waking up in this world where technology conquers the limitations of one's body and self, instead of Chakra Tehniques''_

**1999, Karakura Island. Pacific Ocean.**

''-_Tak... hu...y.._..._is he?_'' barely heard letters, muffled sounds, piercing though the silence, letters and half-way words most likely used in a formation of a sentence, broke through the darkness that enveloped his mind, the sound nothing but a whisper of the soft breeze of a wind.

Slowly, the Alpha brain waves started to pick up in activity, as the 30 year old, blonde haired, sapphire eyed assassin started to wake up from his state of unconsciousness. Stirring from another dreamless sleep caused by the harsh life of an assassin, Naruto Uzumaki, felt strange.

He was experiencing a killer headache, like someone took a rusty kunai and, after stabbing it in said shinobi's skull, started to twist and turn it around, his brain throbbing inside his skull, painfully, with only the current bridge state of his conciousness keeping him from screaming his throat out from anguish.

Alpha Waves have a bridging capacity between our conscious and unconscious/subconscious minds, as well as a vivid imagery, and relaxed, detached awareness. When we completely relax, we shift into Alpha waves, which are between 8 and 12 cps.

Alpha waves are slower in frequency than Beta, but have greater amplitude. A person who takes time out to reflect, or meditate or take a break from an activity is often in an alpha state. When we concentrate intently on one thought, emotion, or activity we have less stimuli to process and our brains can go into Alpha waves.

With Alpha wave consciousness we are not bound by time and space as we are in Beta Waves. This frees our left-brain's logical, sequential organization and allows us to also access our more creative and intuitive right brain.

Our right brain thinks in pictures and sounds that are not bound by human language. Because of this, our thoughts, feelings, and/or activities are usually creative in nature such as dancing, writing, watching a good play or listening to enjoyable music. There are fewer distractions now and it is easier to hear our own inner voice. It is in this state that we have our moments of "A-ha". Many performers, artists, scientists, and athletes consciously or unconsciously put themselves into Alpha state to achieve their inspiration and best performance.

Alpha brainwaves are conducive to creative problem solving, accelerated learning, mood elevation and stress reduction. Intuitive insights, creative juices, inspiration, motivation, and daydreams characterize Alpha waves. These waves are relaxed yet alert. Therefore, they provide a bridge between our conscious and unconscious and/or subconscious minds.

''_..aka.. grab... pu..._-_'t know...it''_ There it was again, a voice, soft, yet sounding disturbed reached the shinobi's mind as his body instinctually prepared for action, a natural response after all these years of service.

As Naruto slowly began to drift back into the world of the living/conscious, the painful pulses in his head slowly subsided, living only dull ache that was more of an annoyance then a problem to the pain-resistant and tolerant mind of a veteran shinobi.

Thus, his brain could now receive and process the information that it's varios receptors received. One of the first senses to transmit any viable data for the brain to scan was the sense of Heat. Thermoception is the sense of heat and the absence of heat, or in other worlds the sensation and feeling of cold by the skin and including internal skin passages, or, rather, the heat flux, which when translated to laic words simply means the rate of heat flow in these areas.

The human body, as well as any organic animal have specialized receptors for cold and for heat. The cold receptors play an important part in the animal's sense of smell, as the sense is used by them to tell the direction of the wind.

The heat receptors are sensitive to infrared radiation and can occur in specialized organs, for instance in pit vipers. The thermoreceptors in the skin are quite different from the homeostatic thermoreceptors in the brain, which provide feedback on internal body temperature.

''_Pu..,... come..n...d.. me...id''_ As Naruto regained his conciousness at a faster pace than a moment ago, his body detected that it was cold, but it also allowed him, along with the sense of touch, to figure out that he was wet for some odd, inexplicable reason.

As his body registered the pressure over his torso that was being applied to it for the last 20 seconds whilst the blonde shinobi's mind reaquinted itself with his body, the pressure managed to push something out. Now when someone was unconcios, the first thing that usually awakens is the sense of hearing. People usually try to move imediatly in any form, but are unable becouse the brain is rebooting the messed up nerve system, unabling the orders to reach the muscles or the muscles themselves being unresponsive/unable to follow the command.

Naruto's gag reflexes activated, and he coughed weakly, a decent amount of salt water escaping his mouth and body as the man rejoined the land of the living, weakly opening his left eyelid.

Now usually he would be tensed and ready to spring into action even if half dead, but his body felt inexplicably weak, not enough strength to even move his head at the moment, still coughing, his lungs expelling the intruding salt liquid that had no business inside his throat.

For a momment, his eye gazed at a azure, cloudless sky, a wrong picture he summarized, as he fell asleep inside his apartment, and should be glaring a hole through the ceiling at this moment. Instead, he was wet, weak, couching up water and half-asleep somewhere outside. Definetly not a good morning, not good at all.

As his right ear registered that a woman, a rather young woman judging by the colour of her voice, was saying something, he felt a pair of hands, most likely belonging to the woman as he could hear another, male voice on his left, scoped him up, and he felt some light tapping on his cheek.

Naruto's whole body was tense, but not rigid. He was weak, defenseless and at the mercy of some unknowns. Not a very comfortable position for someone in his line of business.

''Wake up. Come on kid. Wake up'' As Naruto pried open his eyes to make the nagging noise stop, he felt a tug on his body, like one of the few times that the Kyuubi dragged him into the seal, but different from it all together. And with barebly seeing an outline of however it was that was holding him, he blacked out.

* * *

''_Imagine my surprise at the next turn of events. Meeting her was something unexpected, and was not the last time either. For a long time, I wanted nothing do to with her after learning the truth''_

**Undisclosed Location, The Realm of ******

What does one do when he wakes up, half-drowned and wet, with no energy to move, no power to defend himself from enemies, and then gets flung out of that state of conciousness to standing in front of a small traditional Japanese house, seemingly in the middle of a forest. There was a small fence surrounding the house, with what seemed like a backyard to the right, but it was hard to see. From the porch to the entrance 'gates', a small hole within the fence, was a brick-yellow coloured pavement.

Well, one Naruto Uzumaki, 30 year old professional ANBU Captain wanted to know the answer to that particular question. Why. Well that's what just happened to him.

Azure eyes blinked in confusion, before the man, to whom that particular pair of eyes belonged to quickly shifted into a weary stance, not seemingly moving, but coiling his muscles to react to any sudden movement, or sound.

Naruto, still not noticing any changes to him due to his current situation, didn't like going in 'blind'. So, when he tried to send out a chakra ping through the soles of his feet, he found himself lacking chakra.

Better yet, he found himself unable to access his monstrous chakra reserves, reserves which can rival one of the mighty biju, the reserves that allowed him to duke it out against a fully released Ichibi in single combat like the Shodaime Hokage and Sandaime Raikage could against the other biju.

''You won't be accessing your chakra anytime soon'' an amused voice, one if described and touched could be considered silk, said from the direction of the manor. Naruto's eyes widened as his body reacted, a little to slow for any decent ninja, and turned towards the heavenly sound.

A girl, not looking to be older than 10, with dirty blonde hair that reached to her waist and seemed to immitate the flow of soft waves as the sun glinted of from it. The wavy hair lightly billowed on the breeze that flew though the area. She wore a white shirt, made out of some light material, along with a knee-length white skirt that seemed to be actually clearer than any shade of white Naruto ever laid his eyes upon.

Even from the distance of 30 feet, Naruto could see the colour of her eyes, a soft sapphire that seemed to radiate warmth and contempt, and his body slowly relaxed. The girl held a palm over her mouth, seemingly trying to block the amused giggles that wanted to leave the confinement of the throat. For some reason, he thought that he should know her, that he recognized her from somewhere.

Despite the reaction, or maybe because of the reaction the presence of this girl caused, Naruto found himself looking at her warily, ready to be attacked at any moment and to, if need be, strike the girl down. A gruesome thought that didn't sit all to well with him, but his conscious could, unfortunately, take the grief and the pain that the shedding the blood of a child would cause. He had long ago learned that in the ninja world, there are no innocents, only collateral that got caught in the crossfire on the sidelines. Besides, his soul was already weighted down by decisions and actions that in the end allowed his village to prosper, no matter the cost.

The girl frowned to herself as she skimmed his thoughts on the surface, saddened by them, but not changing her posture on the outside. She would not risk this chance that she got now.

''Who are you'' the sun-kissed blonde haired Naruto asked, his tone of inquisition a simple mask to hide his confusion, frustration and... sorrow. That is, it would have been if it was the gruf voice that belonged to the ANBU Captain, a man in his 30's. It was a childish voice, one that Naruto recognized as his own before his vocal cords mutated during puberty. Before Naruto could conclude why his voice sounded so light, the girl got his attention.

The girl pirked up at the sound slightly, and titled her head to the side as she observed him, the eyes concealing a level of wisdom Naruto didn't see even in the Sandaime, before it was gone, leaving only happiness in them for whatever reason she seemed happy for.

''You can call me Misha-chan, Naruto-kun!'' The girl, apparently aliased as Misha for now, stated joyfully, her hands clasped together in front of her in what should be a polite and _formal_ posture, but she managed to make it look jubilatiful.

Naruto, now even more on his toes, his hand trying to reach for the hidden senbon inside his pocket that...wasn't there, frowned at her, managing to keep it away from his face for the most of it. Looking down at himself for a moment, his azure eyes widened at the sight.

Where a relatively broad torso containing powerful muscles (1) should be, consisting of a simple black shirt that hugged his body and in which he slept in, there was a green T-shirt with a red Konoha insignia imprinted on it. That wasn't the problem though.

He was a small kid. A brat with no muscle, meaning no power, or speed, muscle memory or a chance in a straight on fight with someone older.

''Wh..what. Genjutsu?'' Naruto asked himself out loud with surprise. He never liked Genjutsu. Oh he knew the powers of the Illusion Branch of the ninja arts, spending 3 days inside Tsukuyomi can do that to you. He really just had no interest in the subtle works that are required to perform a powerful genjutsu.

He was a powerful fighter, with his earliest combat 'styles' consisting of barrating his targets with punches and jutsu until he either won just because of his stamina, or the guy made a mistake and received a blow. During this time he never really planned things out and was highly restless, as well as reckless, not only puting himself, but his comrades at risk.

Upon learning the art of Senjutsu from the Gama-Sennins of Mt Myobokuzan, he learned the value of patience, and meditation. Of taking time to think things through, or just enjoy the moment of peace and silence.

Seing the chance of the Kyuubi breaking free, he began his studies in fuinjutsu, an art that takes creativity, control, concentration, but above all, is highly theoretical.

If someone practiced a jutsu and made a mistake, causing it to misfire, the worst would be some chakra strain of their coils, or maybe a few singes on them.

However, if a person made a mistake on a seal, a simple storage seal could turn into a deadly trap, resulting in loss of fingers, limbs, blood, the ability to shape chakra or life. It was one of the main reasons, along with it's complexity and the amount of time required to accomplish anything, why almost no one took their time to master the art.

With the confirmation of the new Hokage, he received extensive training from several high ranking jounin that were the experts of their craft. It was the second time he actually received proper training, as most of the 3 year trip with his _Godfather_, were wasted. The first ones to actually take his training seriously, were Ma and Pa.

Now while the ninja-sensei are supposed to let the student find their own style that suited them the best, they are not supposed to leave them out dry, not giving even the simplest of clues, or teaching them anything.

By the time he was 18, he was already more skilled than all but the strongest shinobi. Power is nearly worthless without skill. Concequently, skill is worthless without experience to utilise the skill and power at the proper time.

His whole combat style changed. Taking points from various Taijutsu styles, which were never definite, a shinobi not wanting the enemy to have a chance to find a flaw within a single style, which meant that they often learned several styles and mixed them up.

The Konoha's Snake mistress, and his first sensei, utilized Hebi-style, which used her higher flexibility to reach and deliver powerful jabs at an opponents weak spot, gradually wearing them down. While Naruto had speed and power, as he grew older, it was obvious that flexibility wasn't his strong suite. Like any ninja worth his salt, he was far more flexible than an ordinary human, but he was neither a female, whose bodies were more flexible with less strength, nor was he Orochimaru to be able to bend his body to such degrees.

Naruto's style, if it could be called a style, was his take on her teachings. It was wild, unorthodox, confusing, seemingly transmiting his movements one second, only for it to be a faint, mis-direction or for it to change it's course at the last second and deliver a strong kick at a designated soft-area. It involved misdirection, traping, grapling, shoves, punches, kicks, short combos, counter's, dodges and it was brutal. Most often, he would get in close and twist his opponents body in some way, like pulling and dislocating an arm, knee or neck.

Being a Futon User, and subsequently ANBU, made kenjutsu, the art of the sword a prime combat style for him. Naruto is skilled with almost any weapon, especially swords, having even studied a little from Samurai during a long diplomatic mission to Tetsu no Kuni. Naruto knows at least 10 styles that revolve around swords in someway, and has similarly created his own, which like his Taijutsu, is deadly.

Stealth, espionage, infiltration, sabotage, demolition, assassination, reconnaissance, front line combat, wide area destruction, these all are things he excelled in.

All of those things were mostly useless in a child's body!

Misha shook her head, the pavement in front of her changing to a tatami mat with a dismissive wave of her hand. Walking to it with elegance that didn't look like she was a snooty noble, or a skilled kunoichi, but rather a confident woman sure in herself, a look that clashed with her joyful smile and body, made Naruto all the more weary. She beckoned him forward and made a gesture for him to sit down.

''Okay...Misha. What happen to me, and where are we'' Naruto asked studiously, not taking her offer, keeping his distance, observing her slight frown at his dejection of her offer. She dropped her hand gently, but kept the offer open for him.

Naruto tried once again to reach his chakra, even a minimum of it. He did not understand what was happening, and did not trust the girl how far he could throw her. Which, in his current situation, was pitifully short. Maybe a foot.

Yeah, he was not a trusting person. He learned the lesson of trusting people to easy a long time ago.

Felling himself weaken, he stooped his attempts at accessing his chakra, and focused on Misha, who gave him a pointed look. ''Pleasu, Naruto-kun. Don't try accessing your chakra, it won't work.'' She said, not explaining why.

Naruto still keeping his distance, eying her sceptically, Naruto asked his previous question again, not happy about his inability to access his chakra, or that of the Kyuubi. A beast it may be, but a powerful beast it was. Even with Naruto's reluctance to use it, he knew when he was powerless.

Even so, he didn't come any closer to Misha, opting to keep a safe distance from her. Well at least it seemed like a safe distance. Seeing her change the terrain in front of them with barely a wave of her hand, he was inclining that she had a lot more power than he thought.

''What happened to me'' The question was a little more forceful than he intended, but it got the job done, as she gave him an answer without batting an eyelash.

''You got a second chance at life'' She said, looking at him, but apparently avoiding eye contact, intriguing him a little with her reluctance. Naruto though the words over, before speaking in a neutral tone.

''Please clarify, Misha'' Naruto said, not utilising a suffix of any kind, not knowing what to think of her, and more that a little tense because of his valnurability.

The girl, looked at the sky, which seemed to take a violet hue, as she placed a finger on the side of her cheek, as she seemingly pondered the answer, before her eyes flickered towards him.

''Let's just say some... higher powers..are at work'' She said consciously, and slowly, seemingly deliberately avoiding a direct answer.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. Higher powers. That's an interesting concept. Now he isn't someone to dispute the possible existence of deities, when there are foxes larger then mountains that can cause tsunami's with a flick of their tails in the world and level mountains.

The sealing of the Kyuubi was done by the Shinigami, the King of Death after all. He already visited a parallel dimension where he seemingly had a mother and father, traveled back in time, came back from the Land of the Dead several times, with vague memories of blurry shapes of what he supposed was some kind of afterlife, nothing conclusive thought.

And let's not forget about his 'summon'. A summon that could take on all the 9 biju and come out winded. The summon that is a special dimension hopper/god.

''Riiight. And pray tell what would..''He paused, some amusement, but not rejecting the idea out right''..Higher powers, want with someone like me''

Misha was about to speak, but he continued, shrugging his shoulders. ''There are people who deserve something like that far more than a trained killer should. I bet that even most criminals deserve a ...second chance more than me'' He said, not taking notice of Misha's sour mood, as his head was turned away. However, as soon as she saw his muscles flex to turn his head towards her, she placed a smile over her face, and spoke, trying not to make an audible swallow as she said her next word. ''...Perhaps'' This time as she looked at him, she seemed regretfully.

Naruto guessed it was because it was true, and he really didn't think he deserve another chance. He knew what he was doing. What was it they say. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Well it goes reversed for Heaven.

''So'' He started out, before his face contorted in a frown directed towards her. ''What gives you people the right to do this to me?'' He asked in a heated manner, hid fist clenching as his glare turned vicious. ''What gives you the right to come in and mess up my life, huh?''

'_You wouldn't understand why, Naruto'_ Misha thought, not answering his question, and returned his gaze, not backing down. After 5 minutes Naruto grit his teeth, seeing that he had no choice in the matter, before looking away.

''Why me?'' he mumbled, sounding defeated. He did not want another chance, all he wanted to do was safeguard the village and keep it prosperous.

The girl, woman, angel, deity, devil in sheep's clothing (Here Misha gained a tick mark), seemed to make a small grin, and tapped her nose, whilst leaning a little closer to him. ''That's a secret'' She whispered, and Naruto made his best impression of an owl at that moment, blinking at her as his head turned towards her, so he could see her grinning at him, a little more than confused at the turn of events.

Naruto resisted the urge to twitch his eye in irritation. He was not some kind of entertainment for creatures that had too much power and were bored. Who gave them the right to dictate what would he do.

Naruto still glared at the woman, but in his child body it couldn't affect a full grown man, how would it affect a deity, but soon released his breath as he sucked in his teeth, his fist clenching slightly.

She looked up again, and the sky was dark blue, like it was a downfall. With a soft sigh, she looked at him. ''Well, it would seem our time is up. Don't worry, Naru-chan, we'll see each other again'' Naruto looked at her, noticing that the surroundings were disappearing in flickers of light.

She said and waved at him with a grin that seemed familiar to him, but he couldn't place it anywhere. Before he was gone, she turned around and walked towards the house.

'_Great another parentless childhood, like one existence filled with loneliness wasn't good enough.'_ Naruto though to himself biterly at the situation that was playing out before him, not knowing that Misha could hear those words through her powers, before his vision blacked out

* * *

**1999, Karakura Island, Pacific**

''I am going to say this once more. We should head back!'' A voice, definitely female argued as Naruto woke up from his _dream?,_ trying to take in his surroundings without attracting attention

''Oh, don't worry. There's no need.'' A ale voice responded to her, and Naruto managed to take in the surroundings of his current enviroment easily. It was some sort of a room, with a few windows on the top, with a shorter than normal ceiling.

''What do you mean don't worry. That kid was nearly drowned, we should tae him to a hospital'' The walls were made out of a metal, but were painted to seem like normal wood, maybe for comfort of the inhabitants.

''Takami, he's going to be fine'' The voice reassured it's female companion. ''A few hours of rest and a warm blanket should be enough'' The male stated, seemingly disinterested in the whole affair. The room had 2 chairs placed on the 2 sides of a table that was connected with the walls. The chairs seemed to be made out of normal wood, with a soft cushions padding for a person to sit on.

''But he's a child. A few hours rest shouldn't be enough. He could have hypothermia or even internal bleeding for all we know'' The female voice seemed to be urging the man, and Naruto heard footsteps come closer, barely heard.

''I'm sure he would have hit the bucket by now, or we would have need to worry so much, Takami'' The walls had a few pictures decorating them, and Naruto managed to recognize what looked like a molecule by it's structure.

He was lying on a very comfortable couch of some kind, and covered with a fuzzy and warm blanket.

''Ughh, you are impossible, you know that Minaka. I'll go check on the kid'' a mere moment later, the doors opened, and a young woman, arround 20, an early adolescent from her youthful appearance entered the room. She had a sharp, but graceful face with a firm, cute nose, with red lipstick.

Her black hair collected into 2 clusters of hair bangs in front of her forehead, masking her left eye to a degree. Her eyes, what Naruto could see, were grey in colour, nearly black, but with distinct iris and pupil. As he looked at her face, Naruto though she was, for a moment Kurotsuchi with longer hair, before moving the though away. She wore a beige coloured sleeveless shirt, and green pants, the clothes hugging her curves nicely.

Naruto's analytical mind already reached conclusions at the fist sight. Civilian, in shape but no combat training. She didn't seem dangerous or have malicious intent towards Naruto, and his tired body relaxed itself, but not completely at her presence.

The last thing Takami expected to find when they reached the island was a half-drowned blonde child, but fate seems to work in mysterious ways. She smiled at him when she noticed him eye her warily, making all attempt not to seem hostile in any shape of form.

So walking closer to him, she bent her body forward and gave him her best smile. ''Hello. What is your name'' She started out simply, finding the need for information and his name as a priority. She just hoped he spoke Japanese.

Naruto, who had a thousand thoughts running rampant like a herd of bulls on a stampede, tilted his head to the side. His mind was already thinking of possible stories and excuses. During his time in ANBU he had several code names that he could use, but it didn't seem like he had much of a choice of whatever or not he wanted to stay here and follow with this...notion that some beings with power did to amuse themselves.

Naruto looked her in the eye, before answering the question warily. She may not be hostile, but Naruto didn't like the feeling of being powerless in any situation. ''Uzumaki Naruto''

The woman's smile widened a bit at the small bit of progress she had made. She made a note to tell Takehito later to try and find any information about the child at the Police Station, so that he can be brought back to his parents.

That train of though brought another problem. Just how did he end up in the middle of the ocean. Was he on a ship with his family and the ship was sunk somehow. The woman wondered how would he have survived that and just where was that ship sunk, and if there are any other survivors.

''Okay, Naruto-Kun. My name is Sahashi Takami. Nice to meet you'' the woman, now identified as Sahashi Takami said, still with the easy smile on her face, and Naruto found it harder to stay guarded with her. She just seemed to radiate kindness from where he was.

Deciding that the best way would be to act polite, having long ago learned how to threat people with respect if needed, he responded in kind.

''It's nice meeting you as well, Sahashi-san. Ano, where am I?'' Takami blinked at his manners, not expecting a child to speak like that. He couldn't be older than 6. Wither he was naturally polite and shy, or his parents were very strict. In the end, neither was true.

* * *

Outside the cabin doors, Hiroto Minaka stared at the island he was itching to explore. He doubted that anyone took notice of it it rising up, but Minaka, he had a feeling in his gut that there was something important on that island, something world-changing.

The island, it looked like most barren Vulcanic islands in the pacific, except it didn't have a volcano. He looked at his watch on his hand, feeling anxious. He wanted to go on it and climb to the top. HE trusted his gut, and it was telling him that he should go there.

With a sigh, he ran a hand though his black hair, before tearing his gaze away from the island to the sky. It was getting late. They arrived here in the morning, but then they stumbled upon a half drowned child. Deciding to sit down on a comfortable piece of ship-style couch, the man looked back towards the island.

Even if he was happy that the kid was safe, he was restless. To him, it seemed like the island was mocking him with its presence. So close, but Takami didn't let him go.

He could try and go there alone, but he was sure that Takami would leave him and go to the mainland with the kid. Aside from having his lungs filled with water, the kid was fine, He already checked him over.

Minaka though that he could understand Takami for acting like that. She loved children, from what he saw in the short 4 months that he knew her. Even though he assured her, she wasn't about to leave the boat to go o the island before she knew that he could at least go with them.

Oh he was worried about the kid, but he believed that the kid was tough from just the first glance and that he would be up sooner that Takami expected. So after he sat there and stared at the island for over 2 hours, dreaming of possible secrets he could discover, he heard the doors to the 'living room' cabin open, he turned his head towards it, pushing the glasses upwards with his finger.

When he looked at the doors which were opened, he saw the blonde kid step outside wearing a T-shirt several sized to big for him, and with that Minaka exhaled audibly in a long deep breath, as in weariness or relief nobody but him could guess.

* * *

After giving Naruto a snack to eat, to which he thanked her for, and a glass of water, Takami sat on the chair as she pondered what could she ask next, and how could she ask the questions so that a child could understand the words.

Naruto was sitting across the table, a small sandwich in his hands as he ate carefully, whilst staring at the picture of the Apollo 11 that hanged over the wall just behind the couch he was placed to rest on.

She observed him, her eye hidden by her bangs, leaning into the palm of her left hand. The short conversation they had showed her that he had a great understanding of the language, speaking it very fluently, with only a few deviations in accent.

His eyes were very intriguing. The irises were a soft azure, not so uncommon in the world, but the pupils were the intersting part. Instead of a single black dot, his pupil was a dark blue, more specifically a dark blue saphire coloured dot.

He was currently wearing one of her T-shirts, them being the closest thing to his size on board the small yacht that Minaka won on a lottery a year ago. It was a simple beige shirt, with 2 black stripes going down the sleeves

Even though Minaka insisted that he was fine, she wasn't about to risk the health of a kid just because he was anxious to visit some island that just rose up from the deeps of the sea. It could wait. She looked up again to see he was finished and was looking at her with a quizzical expression on his face, his head tilted to the side slightly.

Oh Kami it looked so cute, like a small fox with those whiskers on his face. Those are the strangest birth marks she has ever seen.

Deciding that the waste of time was worthless, as she still needed to gain some information from him, specifically what he remembered last, and the name of his parents if there's a way for them to contact them. He seemed like a smart kid, so it wouldn't be hard to believe he knew their names, besides just calling them Mom, and Dad. If she's lucky, he would know their numbers and address.

Before she could say or ask anything, he spoke up first, with a polite bow of his head, since he was still sitting on the chair. ''Thank you, Sahashi-san. The food was delicious'' His over-polite behavior started to irk her a little. What was he some kind of Noble house from the old days that still clung to the extremes of the traditions. In Japan it was normal for you to act polite, a simple fact, it was how people behaved. But the blondie was _too polite_.

Moving the bang away from her forehead with her hand, she gave him a small grin, before reaching across the table, taking note of how he wearily followed her hand with his eyes, and started ruffling his spiky mop of hair.

Her grin widened as he seemed to scowl a little under her ministrations, and after she retracted her hand, he sent her a glare that if he was his old self, could have frozen her body still. Alas it ended up being way too cute with how his hair sprayed over his forehead, his cheeks being puffed up stretching those whisker marks wide. It was totally adorable.

Naruto glared at her for doing that. He wasn't a small child, well he shouldn't be one anyway. He fought an urge to puff his cheeks up and cross his arms stubbornly like a small kid. He did not pout. Ever. Even if his cheeks did puff up due to the small amount of baby fat present on them.

''Loosen up, Naruto-chan. You are way to serious for a kid'' Takami said as she got up and walked towards a small cabinet he didn't notice earlier.

'_Maybe that's because I am not a child. Whose great idea was to do this to me. I will have to have a serious talk with Misha next time'_ Naruto though as a small tick mark formed over his head, but he dropped it the moment he saw her turn around with a small white box with a red cross over it.

Setting the box on the table in front of him, he saw what was most likely this world's equivalent of medical supplies, along with bandages and the basic items. ''Now, Naruto-chan. I am going to check your health real quick, and ask you a few more questions'' She sent the kid what would be a 'child' disarming smile.

''Okay'' Naruto, not really knowing how to act as a normal kid, or whatever qualified as normal in this world, as he knew there were no ships that can go into space, or simply not knowing how to act when a woman has such a 'motherly' aura, although he didn't know what it was, never having experienced something similar. The only 'adult' female figure in his life was the Godaime Hokage Tsunade, a female figure acting with such kindness and gentleness, considering Tsunade punched him through walls on a regular basis before dying in a coma, so her attitude was foreign to him altogether. There was simply something different than when other females were pleasant like that to him. This was mainly because than it was simply women who wanted to get in his pants or just were good old friends, but now he was a kid.

So, he gave her only a timid nod. Well it looked like a timid nod, and Naruto's body acted like that, but his mental state had a lot of catching up to do with the change of the bodies condition and the brain's operational capacities.

Walking up behind him, she placed the stethoscope on his back and listened to his lungs, to see if he had some kind of a cold that could be detected easily. Who knows how long was he in the ocean. ''Okay, Naruto-kun, take dep breaths and breathe normally. Can you tell me what's the last thing you remember. Where were you''

A stethoscope is used by doctors to listen to your lungs, also heartbeat, stomach and intestinal activities and other internal organs condition.

Naruto, already having spent the entire meal mulling over his thoughts, decided to go with a part clueless part honest answer. ''I remember falling asleep.'' His breath nearly hitched when the cold metal touched his skin.

Takami listened to his lungs, making sure he at least wouldn't get a cold. ''Where did you fall asleep Naruto-chan. What about your parents'' She asked, and Naruto looked at his feet for a moment.

That question, though expected, caused a small amount of water to collect in his eyes. He found himself having trouble dealing with his emotions, guessing it's a part of the whole Second chance farce that some beings with a lot of power wanted to amuse themselves a bit. Naruto saw no other reason why they would choose him, besides a source of entertainment. It wouldn't be the first time something with a vast amount of power said that to him.

''I'm an orphan. Father died the day I was born and my mother abandoned me'' He said, a little bitter. While he didn't care all that much about them, seeing as he never had them, he didn't really like them either.

The day he reached 18, he was given a mission report that Sarutobi Hiruzen had filled out himself the night of his birth, and to say Naruto was both angry at the Sandaime, Godaime, Jiraya and Kakashi for withholding information would be saying it mildly.

However that didn't compare with how he felt about the situation considering his parentage. The documents he had gained access to were simple, yet revealing. Whilst his father died sealing the Kyuubi inside his gut, his mother flat out left him alone. The Konoha hospital was never touched, her body never found, so she wasn't KIA. She just packed up and left. Naruto reasoned it was because he became 'the Demon' in people's eyes, that she wanted nothing to do with him

Resulting this, Naruto grew up in poverty alone, never receiving any affection from people. The Ichiraku's were close, but there was only so much that Teuchi could do.

For a boy growing up with no family what so ever? The closest thing he had to family connections were to the Old Man and the owners of the local ramen shack.

To say he had learned to put the values of family and friendship over everything else would be an understatement. It was when he came to this realization as he stood face to face with the Rinnegan user that he realized that his dream to become Hokage was no longer a dream he desired.

His dream was to protect the people he held closest to him, the people that acknowledged him. That was all it had ever been. The title of Hokage was just a convenient place of power that would have given him those things. He promised himself that he would never become like his father or mother.

A man that had chosen others over his family, his loved ones. At least in Naruto's eyes. That was a man he could never grow to respect. He may have been an excellent shinobi, but that means nothing when being judged by the eyes of a son. It was probably for the very same reason he simply couldn't stand being in his _godfather's_ presence. He held nothing but loathing for the woman that gave birth to him. All he knew of his mother was that her name was Ren Namikaze, having taken his father's name after marriage.

He could never abandon those close to him, and he would never sacrifice his own flesh and blood in such a manner. Whilst he did many horrid things for the village, not really having a family, latter on concluding that he would be a terrible father and opted not to even try have a family, he knew that if he ever had one, that he would always put them above others.

In the end, it really didn't matter. He made a man out of himself on his own. He refused to take the _Namikaze_ name when told to by the council simply out of principle.

The only thing he had for himself were his skills and the Uzumaki sur-name, given to him by the Third Hokage, believing it to be a good fit for his name Naruto. (2)

He wasn't about to change it just cause some old farts wanted to use him as some kind of trophy.

''I'm sorry.'' Naruto's thoughts were broken by her sincere words and him being enveloped in a hug by Takami, who had drapped her left hand arround him, having placed the stethoscope aside, bringing his body close into a hug, and was using her right hand to pet his hair.

''Let go'' Naruto's voice was muffled by her, and he tried to wriggle out of her grip, which only increased as he tried harder, not allowing him to free himself out of her grip. What. of what did he do to deserve this cruel joke played on him by some gods that thought he was some kind of experiment

After a few more tries, Naruto relaxed in the woman's grip, fighting against the tears that were forming in his eyes. He didn't cry for over 14 years, and they never helped in solving anything for him, he absolutely refused to cry. Damn it and his small body that can't control it's impulses.

Finally biting back the sob, he felt her arms slack a little. Giving her the best answer that could satisfy her, he just hoped for all of this to finish so he could get thrown into another orphanage from where he could escape and go into the wild. There he could train and hopefully, one day increase his chakra capacity enough to summon that oversized red dragon.

In the end, they both forgot about the question and the answer of where he fell asleep.

* * *

**#2 - Law of Differential Gravitation- Whenever someone or something jumps, is thrown, or otherwise is rendered airborne, gravity is reduced by a factor of 4. Some things have been known to "Float" for a few seconds before plummeting to hit the ground, vehicle, or someone's cranium.**

If you want to imagine the appearance of Misha, type in Groove Coverage - God is a girl, by CentralStationRecs. I'm an atheist, but gods will be mentioned here. Even though my family is supposed to be Christian, the religion i know the most about is Shinto.

(1) -The way Asuma looks, especially during the Oto-Suna invasion when he saves Shikamaru

(2) –Kushina ain't his mother, there ain't no Uzumaki clan. Everything here changes after the invasion of Pain. Akatsuki dies with him, Tobi stays the stupid Tobi, not some super powered Obito/Madara lunatic, and the Kyuubi is still regarded as a demon, and not for a lack of his trying. (cz really every time until when Naruto fought him and met Kushina, he acted like the incarnation of evil)


End file.
